WSOP: Kristen Bicknell Wins Third Bracelet in WSOP Online Event #44
Kristen Bicknell started the final table of Event #44 ($2,500 Six Max NLHE) of the 2020 World Series of Poker Online with the third smallest stack with just 15 big blinds. Over the next 2.5 hours she worked her way through the remainder of the field to take home $356,411.68 and the third WSOP bracelet of her career.
Bicknell won the Ladies Event in 2013 for her first WSOP bracelet and the $1,500 NLHE Bounty event in 2016 for her second. She ties Vanessa Selbst, Nani Dollison, and Barbara Enright for most bracelets won by a female player at three each. She is also just the fifth Canadian player with at least three bracelets joining Daniel Negreanu (6), Jonathan Duhamel (3), Daniel Idema (3), and Greg Mueller (3).
The final table had been running for just five minutes when the first elimination took place. Dong Jiang made it 150,000 from UTG before Nikita Kalinin raised all from the hijack for 591,612 Jiang called and showed 
and was racing against Kalinin’s 
. The 
flop didn’t change anything and Kalinin could only watch the 
turn and 
river complete the board to eliminate him in ninth place.
It wasn’t until a half hour later before the next player hit the rail. De Souza opened to 160,000 from the button and Paul Barnes moved all in from the big blind for 981,116. De Souza called and showed 
while Barnes had 
. The 
flop gave De Souza the lead and he stayed there through the 
turn and 
river to send Barnes out in eighth.
Just over 20 minutes later, a battled of the blinds resulted in the end of one player’s tournament. Everybody folded to Patrick Semrau in the small blind and he moved all in for 1,042,330 – just over 10 big blinds – and Ilya Anatsky called from the big blind. Semrau showed 
and Anatsky was behind with 
. The 
flop gave Anatsky the lead and the 
turn left Semrau drawing to one of four fours to take the pot. The actually improved Anatsky to a full house to make Semrau the seventh palce finisher.
A few minutes later, De Souza found another victim. The Brazilian raised to 200,000 from the cutoff before Jerome Finck re-raised to 500,000 from the button. De Souza responded by making it 800,000 to go and Finck called all in. De Souza showed 
while Finck turned over 
. The 
flop gave De Souza control with second pair. The turn was the and the 
river gave him Broadway to end Finck’s run in sixth.
A standard preflop race 15 minutes later gave Bicknell her first elimination of the final table. Simon Higgins opened from UTG by moving all in for 1,198,132. From the button Kristen Bicknell came over the top for 2,773,929 and the blinds both got out of the way. Higgins showed while Bicknell need to improve with . The 
flop gave Bicknell the lead and also took away one of Higgins’ outs. The turn was the 
and the 
river gave Bicknell the nut flush and eliminated Higgins in fifth.
Bicknell was back at it five minutes later. She opened from the button to 264,000 before Dong Jiang shoved his entire stack of 2,193,233 from the big blind. Bicknell called but then got bad news after she discovered her 
was dominated by Jiang’s . The 
flop gave her top pair and control of the pot. Neither the 
turn or river were able to save him from a fourth place result.
Three-handed play lasted 24 minutes before the next elimination. Bicknell folded her button and Anatskya moved all in for 2,709,701 from the small blind and De Souza defended his big. Anatskya tabled and De Souza had overcards with 
. The board ran out 
to give De Souza running straight cards to give Anatskya a third place finish.
De Souza had 71% of the chips in play when heads up play began. Over the next 35 minutes however, Bicknell doubled into the chip lead before putting the finishing touches on her third bracelet win. Bicknell completed from the button and De Souza checked. After the 
flop, De Souza checked and Bicknell bet 200,000. De Souza raised to 837,500 and Bicknell called to see the turn. De Souz bet 1,062,500 and Bicknell called. The river was the and De Souza moved all in for his last 3,575,632 and Bicknell called and showed 
for turned trips while De Souza showed for only two pair and was eliminated in second place.
Final Table Payouts
- Kristen Bicknell – $356,411.68
- Belarmino De Souza – $261,248.54
- Ilya Anatski – $191,494.18
- Doug Jiang – $140,364.81
- Simon Higgins – $102,887.07
- Jerome Finck – $75,415.84
- Patrick Semrau – $55,279.71
- Paul Barnes – $40,519.91
- Nikita Kalinin – $29,700.94